Will green tea help me lose weight?
Green tea is good for your health there's no disputing that fact. But can it also help you to lose weight?
According to extensive research by scientists, yes! Various scientific studies have found that green tea does have genuine slimming effects, thanks to two main agents contained in the tea leaves. These are caffeine and epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), and they do various useful things that can contribute to weight loss. They increase metabolism, block the conversion of energy into fat, help the body to absorb less dietry fat, regulate blood sugar levels to reduce food cravings, and burn fat.
Food, when consumed, is converted into triglyceride in the small intestine and liver, where it is then carried by the bloodstream into other bodily tissues. This is where the problems can start although triglyceride is essential for the body to use as a source of energy, too much of it will not be used up. The excess will be turned into fat, which is what leads to weight problems and obesity. Green tea, however, can help to ctop this process. EGCG is a catechin polyphenol, a powerful antioxidant that activates an enzyme responsible for dissolving any excess triglyceride. Because green tea contains such high amounts of these polyphenols, drinking it regularly will, in effect, help your body to burn fat.
Not only that, but the caffeine content of green tea, when combined with catechin polyphenols, raises the rate at which calories are burned. This is known as thermogenesis it basically means that whenever you exercise, your energy expenditure will be increased, and you'll burn off more calories than you would without the aid of the polyphenol/caffeine combination. There's also a theory that you'll be able to exercise for longer, too, since your physical endurance is likely to be increased and obviously, the longer you exercise, the more calories you'll burn!
EGCG and caffeine in green tea help stimulate the central nervous system, basically assisting thermogenesis by causing fat to be released into the bloodstream to be used as fuel for the body, rather than being stored as fatty tissue. Caffeine by itself can also stimulate the metabolism, but the process has been proven by researchers to be much more effective when caffeine is combined with green tea's other powerful ingredients.
In addition to increasing metabolism, burning fat, and preventing the conversion of energy into fat, green tea is well known for its ability to regulate blood sugar levels so much so that it's often recommended as part of treatment for diabetics. Diabetic or not, when you eat sugary food, there is a sharp rise in your blood sugar level, which causes insulin to move glucose from your blood into storage cells. However, your body can often get it wrong and produce too much insulin, causing your glucose level to suddenly dip. That's why you might often feel groggy and hungry and lacking in energy after snacking on sugary food, and why you probably find yourself craving yet more sugary food in order to get those blood sugar levels back up again, creating a vicious cycle that's difficult to break. So perhaps you can see why green tea's ability to effectively control your blood sugar levels can help you to lose weight, too!
Finally, there is evidence that green tea blocks dietary fat absorption. There are various digestive enzymes at work every time you eat they act on different nutrients in the food you eat, breaking them down so that the body can absorb and use them. Green tea, however, works to block the actions of the enzymes that act on carbohydrates and fat, stopping them from being broken down and absorbed by the body.
Useful Links:
http://www.thedietchannel.com/Green-Tea-Can-Green-Tea-Help-You-Lose-Weight.htm
http://www.o-cha.com/green-tea-weight-loss.htm
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